Irrigation Channels in the Vineyards of Salgesch

Saturday February 15th -- In a train jam-packed full of people on their way to skiing holidays with luggage and equipment, we headed to Canton Valais to enjoy a day of hiking in the vineyards there... and watched in satisfaction as most of the people from our train rushed off to their probably standing-room-only connection to Zermatt and the Matterhorn, while we ended up with our own private chauffeur in the small van-bus that runs hourly from Sierre to Varen in the renowned wine area of Salgesch, the first village in Switzerland to use the Grand Cru designation for their wines in 1988. (This designation means strict regulation of production of Pinot Noir, including max 800 g. of grapes per square meter)

What started out as a plan to walk 13 km along Trail no.36: "Chemin des Vignobles" (Vineyard Trail) between Varen and Sierre (including a section on an historical irrigation channel) was soon changed to include sections of other irrigation channels which we only discovered locally. The trails were also better, as the "Chemin des Vignobles" consists mainly of paved roadways. 

We are not particular wine fans, but it is still interesting to learn about the agriculture, land use, process, distribution etc., all explained in detail on information placards along the way. More of interest to us are the old irrigation channels (most of them built in the 15th Century) and the confrontations that communities used to have over water usage in this driest of areas (sometimes resulting in gun fights). But for me the highlight of this trip was that without foreplanning, we found ourselves walking along the language border of Canton Valais: German speaking to the East (Upper Valais) and French to the West (Lower Valais), which border is along the Raspille River and Canyon. Before crossing the river, we had met a few other walkers, and greeted them in German. And right after crossing the river, the first person we met greeted us in French! And whereas East of the river the information placards were German first, then French, on the other side, all information was French first!

Salgesch is the first official German-speaking community to the East of this border, and many of the towns around this area have double French/German or German/French names (Sierre/Siders, Sion/Sitten, Salgesch/Salquenen, Varen/Varonne, Leuk/Loèche).

The bus ride from Sierre to Varen took us past Salgesch and the vineyards of the "Domaine du Clos du Chateau de Ravire" (in the circle), which we passed through on our walk back to Sierre. This vintner claims to be the only one in the world to bottle and sell the famous Glacier Wine, a historical wine of the Sierre and Val d'Anniviers Regions.

We started our walk around the cliff church in Varen, with views up and down the Rhone Valley

One of many wine cellars in this area. On this side of the language border, they are called "Keller" and on the French side they are called "Caves"

Old Valais houses in Varen

Official hiking trail: "Chemin du Vignoble" between Varen and Sierre

A sign below at the Church described a round tour of the village, which included this old irrigation channel trail above the village, so we took this route instead of the originally-planned paved road

Looking down at the village of Varen and the church on the cliff where we started our walk. In the background below is the Pfynwald Forest, the largest Pine Forest in the Alps

 

The irrigation channel above Varen is called "Dalawasserleitu" (Dala Channel) whose water has been diverted through pipes to prevent water loss through evaporation, but which also means that the area around the channel has become drier

Looking westward across the vineyards of Salgesch to the city of Sierre (our destination)

Looking eastward up the Rhone Valley: Below is the Pfynwald Forest, the largest connecting pine forest in the Alps and a protected nature reserve of national value

This second irrigation channel (water shut off for the winter) was in our original plan. It crosses a mountain flank where there was a huge landslide in glacial times, and higher up is a second channel parallel to this one, one that we walked along several years ago. 

A look down at the village of Salgesch 

In summer, water runs in this channel. Because this one is not diverted through pipes, the vegetation along the channel is green

These paddle-wheels were used to indicate if the water was running properly in the channel: When the hammering noise stopped, the farmers knew there was a blockage which required cleaning

Residual water in this channel, called the "Mengis Wasserleitu"

Another look back toward the Pfynwald Forest and the vineyards of Salgesch, from the other side this time. 

Zoomed view of the mountains in the Upper Valais region (Oberwallis)

And a look at the hillside where we just crossed along the lower irrigation channel. You can see where both irrigation channels are located due to the green stripes, compared to the rest of the dried-out hillside

This heart-shaped bench seemed fitting for the day after Valentine's Day! 

Village of Salgesch. This is the largest wine-growing area in the Upper Valais, 208 hectares of vineyards and 40 producers of wine

This is the Raspille Canyon, the language border which separates Upper Valais (German-speaking) from Lower Valais (French-speaking) 

Information about the language border: On this side of the river all information is first in German, then in French

This irrigation channel along the language border is called "Bisse des Marais" (water diverted from the Raspille River to the left) and was constructed at the end of the 15th century to irrigate this area (these irrigation channels were necessary due to climate warming, which was already an issue several hundred years ago).

And on this side of the river, all information is first in French, then in German!

The first butterfly!

These geological features at the entrance of the Raspille Canyon were a complete and fascinating surprise!

The Pyramids of La Raspille, hardened calcium deposits from ground water.

The pyramids of Raspille. In the back on the hillside, the higher irrigation channel is distinctly visible

Coming out of the Raspille Canyon... this also wasn't on our original plan, it was a last-minute decision to descend through the canyon, and one which we were glad about.

Other features of this wine-growing area which I find particularly fascinating are the dry-stone walls which form the foundation of the hundreds of terraces

This was near the "Domaine du Clos du Chateau de Rawire", 9 hectares of vines ideally located around the hillside for a large variety of conditions for different types of grapes. 

After rounding the "Domaine du Clos du Chateau de Rawire", we descended toward Sierre through another small river valley.

From the West, this is the view of the Rawire Castle. This is one of the most prestigious wine growers in the area, and even though the original castle here was hundreds of years old, this is a fairly new construction. The owner claims to be the only vintner in the world to bottle the famous Glacier Wine.

To the South: The entrance to the Val d'Anniviers

"Eglise de Notre-Dame de Marais", built in 1422, was the parish church of Sierre for over three centuries. 

Had a peek into the little church, and it definitely looked like very old construction! This section of the church was built in 1524.

Near the train station in Sierre is this castle-like structure, probably fairly "modern"!

We had time to check out a "younger church" (1687):  Eglise Ste. Catherine in the historical centre of the city of Sierre. This is apparently one of the most meaningful examples of a Baroque Church in Canton Valais

I was particulary impressed with this beautiful organ, one of many contructed by a family of organ builders from the Upper Valais Region (Carlen family of Reckingen). This one was built approx. 1780.

Our 11-km walk through the vineyards of Salgesch from Varen to Sierre, with walks along four irrigation channels, and along the language border between Upper Valais (German, to the East) and Lower Valais (French, to the West) ... along the Raspille River and Canyon. 

Our walk took us along three irrigation channels plus an additional smaller section in Veyras near Sierre. We walked along the Bisse Neuf (the upper irrigation channel) in 2016.

Hiking to the Esterli Tower in Canton Aargau

Sunday February 9 -- The day promised to be sunny so we went back to our favourite sport of hiking and walked through the forest in Canton Aargau (Argovia), an area just Northwest of where we live, easy to get to and mostly no snow in winter.

Our goal was a look-out tower called the Esterliturm near Lenzburg (Esterli Tower) with the hope of some good views of the Alps, but unfortunately the air was hazy. Also, the winds from the oncoming storm front started up, and so even with sunshine, it wasn't quite as enjoyable as I'd hoped. Most of the trail was on wide forest roads which is OK for this time of year, but sometimes also monotonous. Canton Aargau is 35% forest: There are 49,000 hectares of forest and 16.2 million trees.

The Esterli tower was built in 1974, is 48 meters high and requires a climb on a spiral staircase with 253 steps! Even though you have a wonderful view of most of Northern Switzerland from up there, we didn't stay long because it was COLD! 

Our plan was to end the hike at Lake Hallwilersee, either at the Hallwyl Castle (which we have been to twice before) or in the town of Seengen, where, according to my map, there was a different castle which we had not seen before. We chose the latter.... but could have saved ourselves the 30-minute detour as this turned out to be a rather ugly run-down building... and the town of Seengen provided no additional charm either....

Start of our hike in the little village of Egliswil. This Protestant Church is typical of this area. Seems to have been built in approx. 1700.

There are always some very nice houses to look at

Heading up the hill toward the forest trail to the Esterli Tower. Urs is getting all kinds of notifications warning of strong winds expected, also in this area, although so far it is warm and pleasant

Looking down at the village of Egliswil

We recently had very strong winds pass through the area and you can see the results when walking through the forests. More of the same is expected. 

Sometimes we have to climb over trees or broken branches that have fallen on the trails, usually as a result of large wind storms.

Heading toward the Esterli look-out tower. It's a very unusual-looking tower!

This narrow tower has an internal spiral staircase with 253 steps.

At the base of the tower is a large picnic area and a display which shows how much wood grows in the Argovian forest every 20 seconds. Good thing too, as it has to replace the fallen trees!

Next destination: Up to the observation platform!

It's a real work-out to climb the 253 steps! There were 3 fold-out seats along the way, for if you get tired...

It was very cold and windy up here, so we didn't stay long! This view is looking South across Lake Hallwilersee toward the Alps, but difficult to photograph due to the hazy air and sun angle

A bit less exposure on the camera creates a darker picture, but you can see the Alps

To our North, a zoomed view of Lenzburg Castle

And beyond the Lenzburg Castle is Wildegg Castle on the Aar River

 

After descending the tower, we walked back toward the South, making a loop to the East of Egliswil

The pastoral landscape of the Seetal Valley. 

Still heading South, we catch a glimpse of the Esterli Tower behind us. 

At a place called Eichberg was a restaurant and some multifamily homes, and this wonderful view over Lake Hallwilersee. We sat on a bench and had a coffee break, but not for long as it was windy. Below is the town of Seengen, which is our destination for today. 

When we got to Seengen, we did a 30-minute detour to look at this castle, "Schloss Brestenberg", which I had seen on our map. Not worth the detour, nor the rush to get back to the bus stop!

I thought I might try to get a look at the castle from below, and this is what I found!

Another 11-km Sunday afternoon walk from Egliswil to Seengen via Esterli Tower

We have done some other hikes in this area as well, including almost the entire perimeter of Lake Hallwilersee.

And as it turns out, we did see that castle on a walk along lake Hallwilersee in April of 2017... so we could have saved ourselves the detour! Looks better from this side than up close anyway.